There are no applications related to this application filed in this or any foreign country.
Floor joists may be constructed of dimensional lumber or engineered wood. Engineered wood beams are made from upper and lower flanges made of dimensional or composite lumber, and a vertical I-beam webbing made of manufactured material, typically made from pressed wood chips.
A matrix of floor joists may be strengthened by bridging or blocking techniques. In addition to extending the distance over which floor joists may span, and the weight they may support, bridges reduce the vibration (such as floor squeaking) that may result in lower quality construction. Blocking involves the use of a short segment oriented perpendicularly to two adjacent floor joists. Such segments are often known as a bridge or a block. In a typical application, the bridge is made of the same material as the floor joists. For example, where a 10xe2x80x3 manufactured I-beam is used as a floor joist, the bridge is also a 10xe2x80x3 manufactured I-beam.
First and second ends of the bridge are connected to first and second adjacent floor joists. The manner of connection, between the first and second ends of the bridge and the first and second adjacent typically involves the use of nails. Such nails are xe2x80x9ctoe nailed,xe2x80x9d that is, the nail passes through the bridge at an approximately 45 degree angle, and terminates in the floor joist.
Use of toe nailed fasteners to make the connection is undesirable for a number reasons. First, the connection between the nail and the bridge is weak, since only the corner of the bridge is in contact with the nail. Thus, the bridge is weakened in the area about the fastener, and is therefore prone to breaking. Further, the connection with the floor joist is weak, since only a portion of the nail or other fastener passes into the joist, since some of the length of the fastener is enclose within the bridge.
An additional failing of this connection is that it fails to adequately compensate for slight. errors in the length of the bridge. For example, where the bridge is slightly shorter then the distance between two parallel floor joists, the construction worker may attempt to overcome this by allowing the nails used in the toe nailing process to span between the bridge and the floor joist. Such construction techniques are undesirable, and contribute to weakened construction.
For the foregoing reasons, there is a need for an improved apparatus and method of use that can better connect the first and second ends of a bridge to adjacent floor joists. The apparatus must result in a better and stronger connection, must be adapted for use with floor joists made of both engineered wood products and dimensional lumber, must be adapted for use with bridges made of both engineered wood products and dimensional lumber, and must be capable of compensating for bridges that are incrementally shorter than the distance between two floor joists.
The present invention is directed to an apparatus that satisfies the above needs. A novel blocking anchor is disclosed that can better connect the first and second ends of a bridge to adjacent floor joists, resulting in a better and stronger connection, is adapted for use with floor joists made of both engineered wood products and dimensional lumber, is adapted for use with bridges made of both engineered wood products and dimensional lumber, and is capable of compensating for bridges that are incrementally shorter than the distance between two floor joists.
The blocking anchor 20 for attachment of a bridge between adjacent floor joists of the present invention provides some or all of the following structures.
(A) A base 30 is made of sheet material, having dimensions equal to the cross-sectional area of the flange of an engineered bridge.
(B) First and second legs 40, 50 extend from opposed sides of the base, each having a height equal to the height of the flange of the bridge. Two fastener holes defined in the first leg are staggered with respect to two fastener holes defined in the second leg. Four fasteners, preferably screws, but possibly nails, may be used to fasten the first and second legs to opposed sides of the flange of an engineered bridge or a dimensional bridge.
(C) First and second fastening flanges 60, 70 extend from opposed sides of the base. In a preferred embodiment, the first and second fastening flanges are formed from associated punch-outs defined in the first and second legs, respectively. Each fastening flange defines a hole for passage of a fastener, which allows attachment of the blocking anchor to the flange of an engineered joist, or the side of a dimensional lumber joist.
(D) As seen in the plan view of FIG. 4, a plurality of bridge elements are staggered between a plurality of joists. By staggering the bridge elements, the fasteners extending from the fastening flanges enter the joists in a staggered manner that does not result in conflict between the fasteners associated with bridges on opposed sides of a joist.
It is therefore a primary advantage of the present invention to provide a novel blocking anchor for attachment of a bridge between adjacent floor joists, which provides a better connection between the first and second ends of a bridge and adjacent floor joists, resulting in a better and stronger, construction.
Another advantage of the present invention is to provide a novel blocking anchor for attachment of a bridge between adjacent floor joists, which is adapted for use with floor joists made of both engineered wood products and dimensional lumber, and which is adapted for use with bridges made of both engineered wood products and dimensional lumber.
A still further advantage of the present invention is to provide a novel blocking anchor for attachment of a bridge between adjacent floor joists, which is capable of compensating for bridges that are incrementally shorter than the distance between two floor joists.
Other objectives, advantages and novel features of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon examination of the specification and the accompanying drawings.